Fire Emblem: Mission of Autumn
by Fan Of Games
Summary: A year has passed since the fall of Grima. Life has returned to normal since then, but is threatened again by an old evil that's been quietly biding its time in the shadows. Now leading mercenaries consisting of friends from the army, Severa finds herself dealing with the most challenging foes they've faced since the Fell Dragon: elite assassins with wings black as night.


"Somebody, anybody, please do something!"

"There she be, matey! Quick, get after her!"

_"Oh no, oh no, oh no…"_ Kristina repeated over and over in her mind as she desperately ran across the open field, away from the pirates pursuing her. Her long black hair fluttered in the breeze. Smoke from Port Ferox billowed in the sky as if a massive bonfire was made from full grown trees uprooted from the ground and gathered together before a spark was set to them. In a sense of panic she whipped her head around and watched in horror as flames engulfed several of the buildings alongside the water. The sound of cannons firing from the pirate ship set off explosions throughout the town and the screams of her fellow townsfolk all dying rang in her ears even as the distance between her and the place she called home widened significantly.

"She's running into the woods! Don't let her get away!"

Tears of fright drizzled down her cheeks as she wondered how much longer she'd be able to go on. She shut her eyes and kept running as fast as she could while weaving her way through the trees. If she were to tire out and find a place to hide, it'd be only a matter of time before they discovered her. There would've been a bit of time to find another hiding spot if she were patient and the pirates hadn't been nearby, but it was unlikely because they outnumbered her five to one.

Remembering the tales her father, a renowned sailor who died in a vicious storm while out at sea, related to her, Kristina knew a lot about pirates and their attacks on maritime settlements. They'd arrive out of nowhere with cannons at the ready and fire at other ships or coastal towns until they pulled up to invade and slaughter the men. Women were subjected to sexual intercourse because pirates found much amusement in raping them while children were sold into slavery. Any valuable material things were taken as loot since the spoils of combat went to the pirates before they set fire to what was left behind. More often than not, they'd devastate the remains with more cannonballs. To put it simply, pirates were no different than the common bandits one encountered on the road every so often.

Her father would swing that massive axe of his and easily rout the pirates with the help of his crew, but it now seemed impossible to be a reality anymore because of his passing a couple years ago. When she saw his corpse washed up on the beach along with a few others, Kristina's fears had been realized. Her mother had died when she was still a child and now her only remaining parent was gone too, leaving her all alone in her life.

She always kept to herself because she was very shy around others and didn't marry since she was still seventeen. Her only source of income came from the cloth she weaved and sold to the local market or to foreign travelers from Valm when they began traveling over the sea after the fall of Walhart the Conqueror last year. Her savings were petty, but at least they got her by in life. All of that was now lost in the chaos wrought upon Port Ferox. Her money and other small valuables had been seized, her house was torched to the ground, and the pirates ravaged the whole town.

This day couldn't possibly get any worse.

"Somebody help me! Save m—Kyaaa!" Kristina screamed as she suddenly tripped over a stone jutting out of the ground and tumbled down a short incline, crying out in pain when she sprained her ankle in the fall, a long cut dashed across it upon catching it on a sharp, rotting log. Whimpering, she moaned in pain while rubbing her wound after coming to a hard stop at the bottom. Her dress was covered in mud from a big puddle of dirty water she landed in.

"Meh heh heh hah…"

Terrified at the sound of sinister chuckling, Kristina whirled around and squeaked upon seeing all five pirates standing on the hill above her.

"Looks like our little mousy seems to have hurt herself," one of them sneered while slinging his iron bow behind him. He was a tall, burly man with a scar across his right eye and dressed in a blue and white striped shirt, rugged pants, and a black bandana around his forehead.

"Going to take a bit of cheese to fix her right as rain," another attired in a similar pair of pants and a cuirass laughed as he joined in. An iron axe was resting on his shoulder.

A third in slacks with dragon tattoos on his chest guffawed, saying, "I reckon she's afraid of snakes, boys. There must be plenty in these woods."

"Indeed," the fourth chirped in a sharp, Ylissean accent. Strangely he was the only non-muscular pirate in the group who also spoke with an air of cunning and sophistication. This one wore simple pants, a black shirt, and a blue cloak. "We should bring her back to the ship where she'll be safe from any mean vipers who wish to devour her for a meal."

The poor girl just stared at them in horror while her blood froze, unsure of what to do since she was trapped—like a rat as they were suggesting. Kristina felt her life flash before her eyes as she watched them joke around like that, knowing this would be the end for her. She was caught and would suffer the same indignities as any other woman taken hostage by brigands.

If only there was someone nearby who'd come to her rescue immediately. She'd give anything for that, _anything_.

"That's enough joking around, lads," the last one, possibly the pirate captain, chided while approaching her with a steel axe in hand. "Captain's going to wonder if we mutinied and kept the lass for ourselves if we stand here all damn day."

Alright, he wasn't the captain. Perhaps he was the first mate.

"Aw, come now, First Mate Oleg," the tattooed pirate scoffed disappointedly, putting a hand on his hip to keep it near his iron axe. "We can have fun with her on the way back."

"Yeah, it'd be boring not to at least award ourselves for a fine catch," the cuirass wearer smiled greedily with arms behind his head.

"You can have all the fun you want with her on the ship" Oleg spoke up authoritatively while snatching the squealing girl up over his shoulder. "Just get back to town and finish raiding the joint. I'm bringing her aboard and stowing her in one of the cells."

"Hold on for just a moment, Oleg," the robed man stepped in front of the first mate. "What if she has a secret stash hidden away somewhere? We should have her lead us to it."

Oleg closed his eyes and raised a bent finger to his chin.

"Please! I don't have much money!" Kristina begged timidly, tears pouring down her cheeks. "I don't have much, nothing of any value to you! Please, leave me alone! You've already taken everything you wanted and you've ruined Port Ferox!"

"Ah, will you shut your trap, girl!" Oleg snarled, scaring her even more. "I'm thinking, goddammit!" Getting back to his thoughts, he considered the proposal carefully for a few moments, nodding his head approvingly. A spark of greed flashed in his eyes as a wicked grin spread across his face. "Certainly! We haven't been plundering any merchant vessels for a while, not since the fall of Grima anyway, but this is the first major haul we've had since Valm Harbor three years before. Maybe things would finally be looking up for a change!"

He and the other brutes rejoiced in the notion, cheering about their possible good fortune while their more cultivated comrade merely smirked and chuckled. Pulling a thunder tome from a pocket in his robe, he flipped through the pages and smiled wider upon locating what he sought. "Wonderful," he said flippantly, a spark of lighting materializing on the tip of his finger as he raised it towards Kristina's side, "I'll get right to work on revealing the stash. It shouldn't take me too long."

Kristina was horrified and would've protested had Oleg kept quiet. "Nah, wait until we git back to town to torture the treasure out from her. Then we'll find a spot so you can have as much fun as you please."

"That would be perfect. Shall I kill her after we've found what we're looking for?" he asked to terrify Kristina even more.

"K-k-kill me?!" The frightened girl's eyes widened as her mouth hung agape.

"My apologies," the mage bowed, "twas but a jest on my part. However, you'll wish that I did speak the truth while my associates are ravaging your body later."

The pupils in Kristina's eyes dilated upon hearing his threat. "R-ravage m-my…" she said before her voice died out when the pirates all laughed heartily.

"Don't you start giving her ideas, Nikke!" the bow wielder chuckled and jokingly prodded the mage in the arm.

"She might be convinced that death is her only option!" the one in the cuirass said.

"We don't want her going free that soon!" the tattooed one chimed in.

"I had no intention of implying such a thing, but yes, your logic is sound," Nikke chuckled admittedly. "I suppose it would be a shame for her to die so young. Tell me, young lady," he turned to address her, "if I may inquire, how old might you be?"

Kristina gasped. "I-I'll never tell you, y-you…you, fiends!"

"Why are you being so rude over a simple question, girl?! Just answer him!" Oleg barked at her, growling at the sudden attitude she was showing all of a sudden.

"It's quite alright, Oleg," Nikke said, shaking his head and shutting his eyes, closing the tome and placing it back within the folds of his robe. "It's impolite to ask a woman her age, which is why she's become defensive." He addressed her now, looking somewhat apologetic for putting forth such a personal inquiry. "I sincerely apologize for my rudeness, my dear. Hopefully, you shall forgive my inquisitiveness; otherwise my associates shall have more fun with you." The tone of voice he took sounded sinister, as if he was an assassin toying with his target before the slaughter.

Kristina just continued to stare in horror, breathless as the pirates laughed one more time.

"Anyways," Oleg went on, "we should get back to the ship befor—"

Suddenly a massive ball of wind magic cut through the woods and headed straight for them. It was so fast two of them received minor scratches as they all dodged out of the way. Since he was the closest to decent cover, Nikke chose to hide in the foliage between the trees to better observe the situation that just erupted.

"By the seas!" Oleg shouted, dropping Kristina to the ground and unsheathing his steel axe. "What in the hell just happened! Get in your positions, everyone!" As he and the other two axe wielders took their places in front of the archer, Oleg whipped his head around in search of Nikke. "Goddammit, where in the hell is that blasted mage!" Turning back to the direction the wind had come from, he growled in anger and shouted out "Alright, show yourself this instant!"

As if on cue, two black shadows ascended into the sky as the beating of powerful wings signaled an abrupt turning of the tables. The pirates all stared in awe as the figures appeared in the light before the archer called out "T-that's a Plegian Wyvern Lord…a-and a Ylissean Dark Flier!"

His observations were correct as he had noticed the emblems on the sides of their arms. A person with good eyes like him could spot them rather easily, whereas his fellows could only tell by his word.

Seated atop their mounts, a couple of girls looked down on the brigands and got their weapons ready. One of them had dark blue hair and held a silver lance in one hand and the reins of her black pegasus in the other. An Elwind tome was strapped to the belt around her blue, light armor, next to a satchel with an elixir, some food, and water inside it. The other rider by contrast had strange, pointy ears green hair tied together by a red hair band, plus an odd hair ornament with a red gem in the center was affixed to the front of her hair. She was also attired in red, medium plated armor and gripping a silver axe with a silver lance strapped her back. A satchel hung from her side as well, holding the same kind of items as her companion.

The tattooed pirate took a step forward and pointed his axe at them, shouting so they could hear him. "And just who the hell do you wretches think you are?!"

"My my," the Wyvern Lord spun the axe around in her hand as she spoke, glaring at the pirates in disdain, "it appears you all take great pleasure in terrorizing innocent people who've done nothing against you. Such actions are barbaric and cruel, so we have no choice but to tame you through punishment."

"You?! Punish us?!" Oleg sneered before he laughed at the pathetic attempt to mock them. "Just how do you propose to tame us, the Onyx Armada, the most feared pirates of the seas?! Why, you're be nothing more than some snot-nosed wretches who don't know how to keep your traps shut and stay out of business that doesn't involve you! What makes you think we'll fall to the likes of you?!"

"First mate Oleg, sir! They're stronger than they look!" the archer warned him, losing some of his composure already. "We must retreat!"

"Idiot, you think I don't know that?" the first mate growled angrily. "We're going to do our best to knock these louts a bit and then withdraw. We are the Onyx Armada, after all. We can get out of any sticky situation; we've been through them before, so it's all standard procedure."

As she stared at the two fliers who seemed to be her saviors, Kristina began to observe them more closely as she put the pieces together in her mind. It couldn't be _them_…could it?

A sudden flash of light caught her attention and she looked up to see what caused it, but her eyes bulged in fright at the materialization of a thunderbolt in midair, especially when there was not a cloud in the sky apart from the billowing smoke from the harbor. At once she leaped to her feet in a state of panic and dashed into the trees to hide, unaware that Nikke was lurking close by.

How had that Dark Flier summoned forth a spell like that when she was just used a tome of wind magic? Kristina guessed she must've had another tome ready for that too. She would've stayed longer to watch the battle unfold; however, she was suddenly grabbed from behind and knocked unconscious.

"What makes you think we're by ourselves?!" the Dark Flier called out as the pirates were thrown to the ground by the attack. "You might believe we're outnumbered, but think again!"

The pirates barely had any time to react when the thunderbolt came down hard on the archer, scorching his clothes and skin as the impact immediately pinned him to the ground. He died instantly, yet in the last few moments of his life he could make out the silhouette of Nikke hauling the now unconscious girl back in the direction of Port Ferox. With his last breath he uttered a curse towards the foolish mage for not having blocked the attack for him. "D-damn you…Nikke…"

With those last few words, he was dead.

Oleg growled through his teeth, gripping the axe tighter out of rage towards the airborne combatants for eliminating the only defense they had against them. "Damn it…Whoever the hell you all are, you'd best get your asses out her this instance or there'll be hell to pay!"

"So be it," the voice of another girl rang out through the forest as she stepped out of the shadows of a nearby tree on top of a small rise and leaned against the truck. The remaining pirates stared at her strange garb thinking she was an ordinary mercenary, but she didn't look the part at all. Rather, it appeared this girl was some sort of Swordmaster from Chon'sin, though they couldn't see her face that well because she'd been standing in the tree's shadow. Yet there was a small smirk across her face like she had made an insulting jest; that much the pirates could observe. Her long black pigtails swayed in a gentle breeze before settling by her shoulders as she crossed her arms. "Though I wouldn't be so hypocritical about it if I were you."

"Hypo-what?!" The axe wielder wearing the cuirass inquired, baffled at the girl's impressive vocabulary. "Use words we understand, bitch! We don't know that one!"

Suddenly he felt a hand on his shoulder and immediately whirled around to shove his axe into the assailant. Unfortunately, he received a nasty injury as a silver sword was driven through his chest. "Wha—how?" he gasped out, choking on some of his own blood which was on the verge of pouring through his mouth.

The same hand gripping his shoulder moved to his chin and held it up so he could see the weapon's wielder.

A young lady with red hair and attired in a fancy red and yellow shirt with matching pants and leather boots stood there with her eyes closed and a wide smile on her face. Her red cape brushed against him as he gasped in painful surprise. "Then allow us to elaborate, if you and your friends would be so kind," she said cheerfully before twisting the blade and pulling it out to strike him down.

The tattooed pirate gaped at her in surprise for a quick moment and then whirled to Oleg. "First mate Oleg! They must have us surrounded! We need to fall back now!"

He heard a noise behind and whirled around to swing his own axe at this next assailant; however, she danced right out of the way before quickly jabbing him in the ribs twice with a rapier. Both blows pierced his chest, causing him to stagger back and hunch over in pain. The girl's pink hair danced as wildly as she did, her ponytail flapping in the wind. Its movements were in sync with her weapon each time she thrust it forward into his stomach. After ten solid attacks, he was dead at her feet. "U-um, s-sorry I-I think it's too late for that," she said shyly before he passed, her empty hand balled into a fist near her chest.

"Impossible!" Oleg cried out, suddenly fearing for his own life now that his brethren had been bested, save for Nikke, who had already fled with the girl over his shoulder. "You can't have bested some of the best men in the Onyx Armada this easily! What manner of wrenches—"

"How dare you!"

Suddenly he felt a searing pain in his left leg and fell to his knee before he could finish. Being hunched over like that enabled him to get a quick glance at an arrow embedded in his calf. Oleg whipped his head towards whoever fired it and gasped as he saw a young girl with white hair donned in green light armor sitting on a horse. She had just sheathed her bow and drew a blade so fast it looked like the movement only lasted for a mere moment.

"Blood and thunder!" she screeched angrily, glaring at Oleg while pointing her sword at him. "You shall pay dearly for insulting our honor, you treacherous swine! We shall deliver upon you a thousand curses so agonizing you'd wish you were in bed, whimpering like the sad little man you are!"

"T-this can't be…" the first mate gasped as tried to stand even with the wind having been knocked out of him, suddenly realizing that these girls around him weren't ordinary soldiers or sellswords for that matter. "N-no mercenaries can be this strong."

"Oh, but we are."

Slowly turning around so as not to injure his already wounded leg further, Oleg looked up at the girl on the rise again, barely able to notice her now that the sun was blinding his eyes. Previously a cloud had been passing by, allowing for him and his late cohorts to have made out some details of her appearance. Now it was bright and she had become like a shadow amongst the light to him.

This girl was looking very confident as she eyed the first mate through narrowed eyes. The smile on her face widened when she flashed her teeth in a grin as she jumped down to tackle him. Her pigtails briefly thrashed about while she dropped to the ground. "You may have already figured this out by now, but just as a reminder, we're not your average opponents," she said, drawing a killing edge from a sheath attached to the left side of her belt. "We're experienced veterans, unlike any other mercenary you probably faced before."

Oleg staggered back a step on his good leg. "D-damn you…"

The girl rushed at him. "We don't just charge in blindly and attack whoever's got the guts to pillage a few villages or rob an innocent merchant."

As soon as she closed in Oleg swung his steel axe at her, but the girl quickly disarmed him with a single strike. "We find the tactical advantage before swooping in to take the upper hand, remaining calm and collected even if our plans go awry and the odds are against us."

She hit him in the face with the hilt of her killing edge and he staggered back again. "We have been there to end a conqueror's reign. We have fought against the Fell Dragon himself."

The girl finally thrust her sword through his chest and spun around before pulling it out. Turning around again, she put her thumb against the side of her mouth and wiped it across, still smiling as she looked upon Oleg's crumpled form. "We are Autumn!" she declared.

…

**Alright, this has been in development for quite some time and now it's finally done. It's one of two Fire Emblem fanfics I'm currently working on, the other being a crossover with Amnesia: The Dark Descent and is entitled "**_Amnesia: A Sister's Despair_**". The first chapter for that one is almost done and I'll get right to finishing it as soon as possible.**

**As for this story, I have only actually thought about writing it as I was playing the recent installment of the franchise, Fire Emblem: Awakening. I have beaten the game and this idea came to me as a sort of fun project to do when I'm not working on more elaborate fanfics such as **_Amnesia: A Sister's Despair_**. Currently I'm planning on doing separate story arcs like in Fire Emblem: Goddess of Dawn—and Awakening, to some degree. Some chapters may be longer or shorter than others depending on what occurs in them, but I'll try to keep them at a fairly moderate length if possible.**

**This fanfic is more of a side story to the game and takes place a year following the game's story. I shall try to stick with the lore as much as possible, but there will be some alterations to fit the story's plot. For instance, I'm working on an assumption that Olivia hasn't married anybody in the army during the game, but has wed someone around a couple years or so after events afterwards. This means Inigo will still be around, but his father may or may not be unknown in the story.**

**Any questions or comments are welcome as long as you remain civil; no flames, please. I shall answer any questions regarding the story to the best of my abilities.**

**I hope you enjoy reading this story as I enjoy writing it.**


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